Monday, December 19, 2016

The minimum wage will increase of 0.93 % in 2017, without a “boost” – The World

The minimum wage will increase of 0.93 % in 2017, 1 481 euros gross per month, a high level in Europe. Some of the european countries to agree to more processing increases.

In France, the minimum wage growth (smic) will be upgraded to the 1st January 2017 but without the benefit of a ” boost “. The minister of labour, Myriam El Khomri, was to announce Monday, December 19, to the social partners, at a meeting of the national Commission on collective bargaining (CNNC).

This arbitration is not a surprise : it is consistent with the opinion rendered by a committee of independent experts to inform the executive on the subject. It recommended that ” prudence and moderation “ saw ” conditions of employment, which remains precarious “ and ” a rate of unemployment still very high “.

Each year, the government should say if the minimum wage is raised merely on the basis of an indexation formula, which takes account of inflation (measured for the 20 % households with the lowest income), or if it goes a little bit further. Three months after his inauguration at the Elysee in may 2012, François Hollande, had decided, as it had pledged during his election campaign, a coup de pouce to the smic of 0.6 %. It was added to the revaluation of 1.4 % applied to the 1st July 2012, to compensate for the price increase.

Stimulate the purchasing power

Since then, no “boost” has not been given, and it will therefore be the same, next year : the minimum wage will grow by virtue of the mechanism provided for by the texts, or an increase of 0.93 %, which is the change of 9,67 € from the hour to 9.76. Specifically, one employed full-time (that is to say, to 35 hours a week) will earn 1 481 euros gross per month, or 1 out of 153 euros net, specified by the ministry of labour.

Read also : French minimum wage (smic) will cost less than a foreign worker is detached

The executive considers that an increase in the minimum wage is not the best instrument to stimulate the purchasing power of the employees : an increase of 10 euros is not reflected by an increased income of ” 1 to 2 euros “, due to higher taxes and lower social benefits.

other levers must be activated, in the eyes of the government, to improve the resources of the workers : for example, reduce income tax (as budget 2017 the plans for about 5 million taxpayers), to encourage wage negotiations in the branches or to ensure that individuals eligible for the premium business demand.

lighting: The return of the minimum wage

Strong increase in Spain

Elsewhere in Europe, some countries have opted for increases more frank. Last in date, the Spain. In early December, the conservative government announced an increase of 8 % of the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI). From 2017, it will be in twelve months from 764 to 825 euros per month. Claimed by the socialist opposition, this increase is the highest since thirty years.

also Read : Spain increased the minimum wage by 8 %

further north, the Great Britain also agrees a symbolic gesture important. Walking towards the Brexit – the exit from the european Union (EU) which has voted a lot of low-income households – the new executive in the uk has announced that the minimum wage would be adjusted by 4% effective April, one year after a first increase of 7.5 %, and that it will rise to 7.5 pounds gross (8,8 euros) per hour. In total, it is brought to expand by 20 % in five years.

see also : in The Uk, the rise in sham of minimum wages

As for Germany, which was introduced in 2015 only the minimum wage, it gratifies an increase of 4 % to 2017, reaching 8,84 € gross per hour. the ” These movements are linked to the fact that there has been in these countries a significant increase in inequality, and a wage restraint, which eventually give rise to strong social demand “, analysis Emmanuel Jessua, an economist at Coe-Rexecode.

Find new sources of growth

The crisis, often, has been there. In Southern Europe in particular, where the cost of the work has been compressed in order to regain competitiveness : in Spain, real wages have been stagnant since 2007, according to the international labour Organization (ILO). In the Uk, they have declined by 7 % ! In Germany, the phenomenon, the oldest, is due to labour market reforms initiated in the early 2000s. While increasing the competitiveness of the country, they have widened the gap between the highest income and the employees at the bottom of the ladder, and precarious and poorly paid.

By raising the minimum wage, governments hope to boost household consumption and find new sources of growth. In Spain, ” the increase in the SMI will reactivate the internal demand and make the economic recovery more solid “, held on Friday the representative of the ILO in Madrid, Joaquin Nieto.

In the european landscape, where 22 countries out of 28 have a legal minimum wage, ” the uk is in an atypical situation, because the minimum wage is very high relative to the distribution of wages “, judge Emmanuel Jessua. It is, in fact, more than 60 % of the median wage, the highest level among the countries of the Organisation for economic cooperation and development (OECD). Even after having been increased by 20% by 2020, the smic british would remain, according to this definition, behind the French.